January’s Stupid Plastic Crap

This month’s nominee for Stupid Plastic Crap is the Ortho Home Defense MAX KILL & Contain Mouse Trap. It is a plastic container that traps one mouse and, hopefully, kills it. The consumer does not have to see or touch the mouse. Once you catch a mouse, you just throw the plastic container into the trash and never give it another thought. You never give it another thought unless you remember that the plastic will be around for another 500 or so years. This trap is very convenient which is the justification for throwing out one mouse that is entombed in a plastic casket that does not decay.

Mice can be a problem as cold weather sets in. They naturally try to get into a warm place to avoid the cold temperatures. Who can blame them? I would guess that no one wants them in their house. They are destructive, they leave a trail of feces and urine, and they carry diseases. I do not have a problem with the idea of getting them out of the house. In fact, I do not have a problem with killing them and I do love animals. Mice have a high reproductive potential - not exactly in danger of going extinct. My philosophy is face up to what you have to kill, whether it is a mouse or a chicken or a cow. (I will kill a chicken but not a cow.)

Let me share a good mouse story that contributed to my willingness to kill them. I was sitting in my den and noticed that my two cats were very interested in something under a chest. I figured it was a mouse so I took a magazine and ran it under the chest. Sure enough - a mouse ran out toward me, but I did not see where it went. I thought, “Oh well! The cats will get it.” I spent about 10 minutes walking around the house, checked my email, etc. The bed room phone rang and I sat on the edge of my bed to answer the phone. As I did this I ran my hand through my rather curly/fuzzy hair and a mouse fell out of my hair. I screamed and pounded the mouse with my shoe. For 10 to 15 minutes it had been sitting on top of my head! If I had looked in the mirror and had seen little mouse ears sticking out of my hair, I would have fainted.

If you can’t kill a little mouse, I respect that. Use a humane trap like the Victor Repeater Trap. If you can face killing a mouse, use the standard wooden ones that have absolutely no plastic. They are the green way to trap mice and cost $2.45 for a pack of 2. No glue, no poison, no plastic. Just drop the dead mouse into the trash or outside, wash the trap and your hands and you are ready to trap another one. The plastic Ortho trap costs $10.49 for a pack of 2 AND you throw them away after one use. According to internet reviews, this trap does not kill the mouse about half of the time. Then consumers are faced with a live mouse. Some consumers tried to drown the mouse, others just threw the live mouse and trap away. The mouse dies of lack of water or food. Not pretty or humane.